Burma

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made any commitments not to support a UN General Assembly resolution on human rights in Burma in 2014.

Hugo Swire: We welcomed the UN General Assembly 3rd Committee Country Resolution on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma, which was sponsored by the EU and adopted by consensus on 20 November 2013. While recognising areas where the Burmese Government has made genuine progress, the resolution, agreed by all member states including Burma, further emphasised our ongoing human rights concerns. The EU will decide later in the year whether to sponsor a country resolution at the UN General Assembly. This will depend on the situation and the views of member states at the time.

Computer Software

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many software licences his Department has (a) purchased and (b) used since May 2010.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 5 November 2013
	In August 2013, the Department's outsourced IT service provider (Steria as part of its hand-over to our new provider Fujitsu) recorded that the Department had 57,739 software licences in use across 2,500 desktops. These licences included core desktops which had 27 different elements to the system including, for example, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, virus protection, SAP Enterprise Resource Planning software application, Personal Information Management System and remote access licences.
	Our procurement records show that DCLG has purchased a total of 9,498 software licences for the period May 2010 to October 2013. This does not include software purchased by the Department's outsourced IT services providers.
	The overwhelming bulk of these purchases have been made in the last year, as part of the Department's upgrading of its desktop IT systems; these systems were initially purchased in 2007 and are now are in need of upgrading, for productivity and security reasons. This includes migrating from Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2013, which Microsoft are shortly ceasing to support (ie no longer publishing security patches). We are also seeking to rationalise the number of products in use, from the legacy systems inherited from the Department's predecessors, including the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions.
	As my Department recommended in our document, “50 ways to save”, we are reducing our software costs through the use of Open Source software. There are a number of excellent examples in DCLG of this approach including our new intranet and the public facing 'opendatacommunities' web solution that relies on a very wide range of .open source software. The end point operating system on 50% of our new estate is now Linux based.
	The new Desktop IT Services contract will cut yearly costs by 40%, compared to current contracts, delivering a significant saving for taxpayers.

Fire Services: Floods

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward legislative proposals to impose a statutory duty on the fire and rescue service to respond to flooding incidents.

Brandon Lewis: The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 detail the roles and powers of fire and rescue authorities in respect of both emergency response and rescue in a wide range of situations, including from flooding. Fire and rescue authorities are expected to produce Integrated Risk Management Plans which identify the full range of risks that an authority's service is expected to respond to and is subject to consultation. This approach is enshrined in The National Fire Framework which was given statutory effect in August 2012. When it comes to rescuing people from floods there are a number of agencies involved, particularly in coastal areas, where, as well as fire and rescue authorities, the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and Search and Rescue helicopters can become involved. In any area, individuals and agencies with boats may also volunteer to help. Usually the fire and rescue authorities take the lead in co-ordinating the flood rescue co-ordination as a leading category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act.

Fires: Domestic Appliances

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fires were caused by (a) dishwashers, (b) irons, (c) cookers, (d) washing machines, (e) tumble dryers, (f) refrigerators and (g) televisions in each year for which data is available.

Brandon Lewis: The numbers of fires attended by local authority fire and rescue services by source of ignition, including these types of domestic appliance, can be found in the publication ‘Fire Statistics Great Britain’. These are also split for each type of appliance according to the type of fault or misuse.
	Data for years from 2009-10 are in a downloadable file entitled ‘Accidental Fires' which accompanies the latest edition of ‘Fire Statistics Great Britain’:
	www.gov.uk/government/collections/fire-statistics-great-britain
	Data for the years of 2000 to 2008 can be found in table 21 of the relevant edition and can be downloaded from:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121108165934/http://www.communities.gov.uk/fire/researchandstatistics/firestatistics/firestatisticsuk/

Housing

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the number of residential units with planning permission; and how many of those (a) have started on site and (b) are yet to start on site.

Nicholas Boles: In my answers of 9 July 2013, Official Report, column 189W; 7 November 2013, Official Report, column 345-347W and 10 December 2013, Official Report, column 158W, I gave comprehensive replies pointing out the inaccurate claims being propagated by HM Opposition that there were 400,000 (or more) homes with planning permission which were not being built because of 'land banking'. I explained how these suggestions were not backed up by the factual evidence or independent studies.
	I note that the right hon. Member has tried to resurrect this dead canard, further to his comments in the debate of 8 January 2014, Official Report, column 334.
	The latest figures from Glenigan estimate that the number of dwellings with planning permission that are classified as 'on hold or shelved' has fallen from 59,100 in October 2013, to 57,100 in December 2013 to 55,800 in January 2014. This reflects an ongoing trend, assisted by the comprehensive package of Government measures to get stalled sites moving (many of which have been opposed by HM Opposition).
	As of January 2014, there were 265,000 units with planning permission which had started on site and a further 202,900 which were progressing towards a start.
	The total number of sites with planning permission is 538,100 dwellings; the remainder is for sites which had been sold, were due to be sold, or else the information was not available. All information is based on sites of 10 units or greater.
	These figures reflect the fact that the number of planning approvals for new homes is rising and is now at its highest rate since 2007 (Home Builders Federation press release, ‘Big Jump in Housing Planning Permissions’, 2 December 2013) and the fact that housing construction is at its highest levels since 2007. More housing sites have planning permission and more housing sites are being built out.
	As the Home Builders Federation noted in their December press release:
	‘We have already seen evidence of a rise in new homes starts and these figures show the industry's intent to increase and sustain that over the next few years. Developers are building out current sites more quickly and are now looking to invest in new sites and begin development sooner than previously planned.’
	One of the remaining practical obstacles to sites starting is the imposition of unreasonable and disproportionate planning conditions, on top of the substantive planning permission. We will be announcing further steps in due course to help tackle such unreasonable conditions to help reduce delays in the planning system and help build more homes. It will be insightful whether HM Opposition opposes this further reduction of excessive red tape.

Planning Permission

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  in how many cases he has (a) modified and (b) cancelled a local authority Article 4 direction since May 2010;
	(2)  in how many cases where local authorities have issued Article 4 directions have they been required to pay compensation to those who permitted development rights have been withdrawn or curtailed as a result of the direction since May 2010;
	(3)  how many Article 4 directions relating to betting shops issued by each local authority his Department has been notified of in each of the last two years;
	(4)  how many Article 4 directions relating to fast food shops issued by each local authority his Department has been notified of in each of the last two years;
	(5)  how many article 4 directions relating to payday lending shops issued by each local authority his Department has been notified of in each of the last two years.

Nicholas Boles: The information is as follows:
	Modification or cancellation
	Since May 2010, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), has not modified or cancelled any article 4 direction made by a local authority. The power is there, but it is a reserve power. By contrast, under the last Administration, the permission of the then Secretary of State was required to confirm article 4 directions.
	Compensation
	Local authorities are not required to notify my Department when compensation proceedings are taken against them. However, I am unaware of any successful claims for compensation. I would note that it is possible in certain circumstances for councils to limit their liability to pay compensation if they issue a non-immediate direction. Ministers in this Administration have repeatedly pointed out that councils can issue such non-immediate directions since 2010: so there has been plenty of opportunity for councils to issue these powers in the meantime.
	Hot food/takeaways
	There are no permitted development rights that would allow the change of use of a premises to hot food/takeaways (A5 use).
	A2 use class (financial and professional services)
	Payday lenders and betting shops both fall within the broader A2 use class. In the last two years the Department has been notified of the following article 4 directions which remove permitted development rights, including A2.
	
		
			 Local planning authority Permitted development right removed 
			 Yorkshire Dales National Park Changes of use rights from agriculture to flexible uses, including A2 introduced by Class M of the 2013 amendment to the General Permitted Development Order. 
			 London Borough of Islington Temporary, flexible use rights, including A2 introduced by Class D of the 2013 amendment to the General Permitted Development Order. 
			 London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Change of use rights from A3 (restaurants and cafes), A4 (drinking establishments) and A5 (hot food/takeaways) to A2 uses. 
			 London Borough of Southwark1 Two directions: The first removed change of use rights from A3 (restaurants and cafes), A4 (drinking establishments) and A5 (hot food/takeaways) to A2 uses. The second removed temporary, flexible use rights, including A2 uses introduced by Class D of the 2013 amendment to the General Permitted Development Order. 
			 1 Formal notification awaited.

Procurement

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Attorney-General what weighting the Law Officers' Departments procurement procedures give to (a) the location of a company and its workforce, (b) the extent to which a company has a strong environmental record, (c) whether the company is a social enterprise and (d) other company history prior performance.

Oliver Heald: In accordance with Government procurement policy the Law Officers' Departments use pre-tendered pan-government contracts wherever possible for the supply of services. Such contracts will have been awarded following an open competition process led by either the Crown Commercial Services or another Government Department or public sector body.
	Where a requirement for services cannot be met through a pan-government contract, services will be tendered for directly, usually following an open competition process. Where services are likely to be met by framework suppliers, the Law Officers' Departments have the opportunity to run further competitions from among framework suppliers to refine the requirement for services.
	In both scenarios tenders are evaluated on total value for money and not price alone. It is usual for questions to be included in tenders that require potential suppliers to demonstrate their qualification and prior experience in delivering the specific requirements. Where it is relevant to service delivery, additional evaluation criteria will consider bidders' responses in terms of location, environmental credentials, and status such as social enterprise, sole trader, partnership etc.

Procurement

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Attorney-General what proportion and value of the Law Officers' Departments contracts have been let (a) under the restricted procedure, (b) by the open procedure, (c) via framework agreements and (d) via a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has completed one Official Journal of the European Union procurement project between January 2011 and December 2013. The project established a framework for the supply of video translation services. The framework was let in 2013 for five years with an estimated total value of £5 million to £10 million over the term. Due to the sensitive and specialist nature of the work the procurement involved the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire and was run under the restricted procedure.
	In accordance with Government procurement policy the CPS utilises pan-government frameworks to procure the majority of its general goods and services. Between 2011 and 2013 the Department has awarded major contracts for stationery, facilities management and translation services via pan-government frameworks. However, the CPS is a devolved organisation and has not kept central records of all contracts let and the procedure used to award that was used in each of the last three years. To provide this information would involve checking paper records across the CPS and would incur a disproportionate cost.
	The remaining Law Officers' Departments could not provide the information requested without reviewing individual contract files and this research would incur a disproportionate cost.

Energy: Company Accounts

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2013, Official Report, column 607W, on energy: company accounts, if he will place in the Library a copy of his instructions to Ofgem on the report on the transparency of financial accounts of the energy companies.

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), has asked Ofgem to deliver a full report on the transparency of financial accounts of the energy companies and ways this could be improved. This will report by spring 2014.

Energy: Prices

Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that vulnerable customers do not pay disproportionately high unit costs for gas and electricity.

Gregory Barker: This Government is determined to secure a fair deal for all consumers. That is why we provided legislative backing for Ofgem's retail market reforms that deliver our commitment that every consumer should be on the cheapest tariff that meets their needs.

Nuclear Power Stations: Japan

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of reported radiation levels on the boundary of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant in Japan; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The UK Government has not made any specific assessments of reported radiation levels on the boundary of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant. This is a matter for the Japanese authorities.
	The IAEA issues regular Status Reports to the public on the current status of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, including information on environmental radiation monitoring, the status of workers and current conditions on-site at the plant. This information can be found at:
	http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/fukushima/status-reports.html

Power Failures

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with power companies on their preparedness to deal with bad weather events.

Edward Davey: I met the distribution network operators and key industry players on 8 January to discuss the power cuts over the Christmas period and have set up a review of what worked and what did not. This is due to report back to me before the end of March
	While there are clearly lessons to be learnt, especially over communications with customers, I want to record, again, my thanks to the thousands of people who worked hard over their Christmases, mostly in difficult circumstances, to look after and reconnect those affected by severe storms and flooding.

Solar Power

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that solar PV is appropriately sited.

Gregory Barker: Inappropriately sited solar PV is something that the Government is determined to prevent.
	Our planning guidance gives clear advice on the appropriate siting of renewable energy developments, including solar PV. I have personally written to local authorities to emphasise this, and am working with the industry to support the development of new best practice.
	Furthermore, the solar strategy, to be published in the spring, will set out our policy on appropriate siting of solar PV in even greater detail.

Minimum Wage

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many members of staff in HM Revenue and Customs were involved in enforcement of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and its associated delegated legislation in each of the last four years.

David Gauke: The Government takes the enforcement of NMW very seriously. In addition to reviewing every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline, HMRC carry out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW. The value of penalties charged has increased by 41% between 2012-13 and 2009-10.
	The total number of HMRC staff who were involved in the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage Act in each of the last six financial years is shown in the following table. Please note that the number shown includes staff who have left in that year.
	
		
			 Financial year Number of NMW staff involved in NMW enforcement 
			 2008-09 149 
			 2009-10 154 
			 2010-11 159 
			 2011-12 162 
			 2012-13 173 
			 2013-14 (to December) 181 
		
	
	Staff across HMRC contribute to enforcing the NMW, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation, but HMRC does not record the specific numbers of those staff involved, beyond those identified above.

Minimum Wage: North West

Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employees in Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency are paid below the national minimum wage rates for those 21 years old and under.

David Gauke: The Government takes the enforcement of NMW very seriously and HMRC enforce the national minimum wage legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and has done so since the introduction of NMW in April 1999. It does that by investigating all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, in addition carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answers I gave on 6 January 2014, Official Report, column 162W, and on 11 November 2013, Official Report, column 465W, to the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane). HMRC does not capture complaints or the outcomes of its investigations by reference to Government regions or country. Its management information relates to the work of teams who are multi-located. Because HMRC resources to risk, work relating to a specific geographical area is not always done by the NMW team based in that area.

Air Pollution

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information his Department has collected on air quality in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) each region of the UK.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA operates approximately 300 monitoring sites across the UK. 130 of these are part of the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) and each collects and reports hourly information on some or all of the following pollutants: ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter of up to 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) and particulate matter of up to 10 microns in diameter (PM10). In addition, there are 11 non-automatic networks that collect data for a range of other pollutants including hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals, black carbon, acid deposition and ammonia.
	There are 16 DEFRA-operated monitoring sites in the West Midlands. Nine of these gather information as part of the AURN; four monitor hydrocarbons, two monitor black carbon, two monitor metals, one monitors PAHs, one monitors acid deposition, one monitors acid gas and aerosol and four monitor ammonia.
	Coventry has one DEFRA monitoring site operated under the AURN.
	Details and monitoring information for all these sites and pollutants is available on the UK-air website at:
	http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/
	Data from UK-wide modelling of air quality is also available on this site.
	In addition to information on air quality collected from the above networks, local authorities in the UK have a responsibility to review and assess local air quality and to prepare reports of local air quality. DEFRA is provided with this information.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to receive the report by the Independent Expert Panel assessing the badger cull pilots.

George Eustice: The Independent Expert Panel continues to consider the results of the pilots and prepare its report. As an independent body the timing of their report's completion and submission to Ministers is ultimately a matter for them.

Procurement

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what value of contracts procured by his Department in the last five years was carried out below EU thresholds.

Dan Rogerson: Core DEFRA does not hold consistent contract information for contracts awarded by core DEFRA prior to 1 April 2009. The data for later years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Number of contracts Value of contracts (£) 
			 2009-10 163 6,282,408.70 
			 2010-11 119 3,060,095.90 
			 2011-12 76 2,308,978.45 
			 2012-13 114 3,386,526.94 
			 Grand total 472 15,038,009.99 
		
	
	The information provided above excludes (a) research spending, which is not subject to the EU thresholds, and (b) any procurement through frameworks with a value above the EU thresholds.

Assets

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list each item valued at more than £500 of assets impaired as a result of his decision to discontinue the Enquiry Service facilities as set out in his Department's recent annual report and accounts.

Esther McVey: The list of asset items valued at £500 or more, impaired as a result of the decision to discontinue the Inquiry Service is as follows:
	Asset
	IT Upgrades
	Inquiry Service R11.3 (software upgrade)
	Bereavement (IT development)
	Inquiry (IT development)
	Process Management (IT development)
	Update (IT development)
	Update Software Environments
	JSA deductions (IT development)
	Seagull (Legasuite IT Development)
	Update (IT Development)
	DWP Enquiry Service (Telephony)
	BT Proposal Work TCC (Telephony)
	T-IDV
	Appointment booking (IT development)
	BT milestone (Telephony)
	Inquiry (IT development)
	Inquiry Service (IT development)
	Environments BT TIE (Telephony)
	Software environments update
	Enhanced Transmission Service
	Elements 2.1 (IT development)
	Assets in Course of Construction
	Software licenses
	CAMlite (IT development)

Employment and Support Allowance: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  pursuant to the answers of 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 758W, on jobseeker's allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber and 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 756W, on employment and support allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber, how many people living in the City of York receiving employment and support allowance were moved from the support group to the work-related group; of those how many sought a review of that decision; and of those seeking a review how many were (a) moved back to the support group as a consequence of the review, (b) not moved back to the support group as a consequence of the review and (c) still awaiting the decision on their request for review in October 2012 and each month since then;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 758W, on employment and support allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber, how many people living in the City of York receiving employment and support allowance were moved from the support group to the work-related group; of those how many sought a review of that decision; and of those seeking a review how many were (a) moved back to the support group as a consequence of the review, (b) not moved back to the support group as a consequence of the review and (c) still awaiting the decision on their request for review in October 2012 and each month since then;
	(3)  pursuant to the answers of 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 758W, on jobseeker's allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber and 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 756W, on employment and support allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber, how many people receiving employment and support allowance in the City of York were moved (a) from the support group to the work-related group and (b) from the work-related group to the support group in each month since October 2012.

Esther McVey: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 9 January 2014, Official Report, columns 280-81W.

Housing Benefit

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the abolition of housing benefit on the Government's child poverty targets.

Steve Webb: Housing support for working age people will be incorporated into universal credit and qualifying households will continue to receive support with their housing costs through the housing element.
	Around 3 million households will gain from universal credit, with the average gain being £177 a month. 300,000 individuals are expected to move into work as a result of universal credit, through improved financial incentives to work, increased simplicity of the system and increased conditionality.
	The Government remains committed to ending child poverty in the UK. We need measures that provide a more accurate picture of the reality of child poverty and drive the right action. Government has consulted on how best to measure child poverty. The complexity of the issue means that we need to take time to ensure we have the best measure of child poverty and we will publish our response as soon as we can.

Jobseeker’s Allowance: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answers of 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 758W, on jobseeker's allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber and 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 756W, on employment and support allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber, how many people receiving jobseeker's allowance (JSA) in the City of York had their JSA withdrawn as a result of their alleged failure to comply with conditions laid down by his Department in October 2012 and each month since then.

Esther McVey: The information is tabled as follows:
	
		
			 Number of individuals with an adverse jobseeker's allowance (JSA) sanction decision in York local authority,22 October 2012 to 30 June 2013 
			  Number 
			 2012  
			 October 70 
			 November 180 
			 December 110 
			   
			 2013  
			 January 200 
			 February 160 
			 March 150 
			 April 130 
			 May 160 
			 June 140 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest ten. 2. Data is to 30 June 2013, which is the latest available information. 3. Figures may include individuals who have had more than one adverse sanction decision e.g. if an individual has a sanction applied in two different months, they will appear in each month above. 4. New sanctions rules came into force for JSA from 22 October 2012. The number of sanctions applied is the number of low, intermediate, and high level referrals where the decision was found against the claimant. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-overview-of-sanctions-rules Source: DWP: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics database.

Procurement

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion and value of his Department's contracts have been let (a) under the restricted procedure, (b) by the open procedure, (c) via framework agreements and (d) via a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years.

Michael Penning: The proportion and values of the Department's contracts are as follows:
	
		
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			  % £ % £ % £ 
			 Restricted procedure 14.9 203,562,440 13.5 220,834,756 3.7 20,111,410 
			 Open procedure 13.1 3,250,743 7.7 889,234 37.4 16,732,066 
			 Framework agreements 69.0 429,837,785 69.8 4,076,165,967 43.7 1,398,023,686 
			 Pre-qualification questionnaire 17.3 203,732,100 17.3 3,181,969,734 16.8 174,427,900 
			 Notes: 1. An Open procedure is used when all suppliers who have responded to the Contract Notice are invited to tender. A Restricted procedure is used when only those suppliers who have been invited by the contracting authority may submit a tender. 2. The inclusion of contracts using pre-qualification questionnaires includes contracts that also used the Restricted procedure thus these items are not mutually exclusive. 3. This question did not ask for data on the use of the Competitive Dialogue or the Negotiated procedures which accounts for the remaining % of contracts not included under the Restricted and Open procedures and in the use of framework agreements.

Social Security Benefits: Polygamy

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress he has made in preventing payments of benefits to people in polygamous relationships.

Esther McVey: The Government has decided that universal credit, which replaces means-tested benefits and tax credits for working-age people, will not recognise polygamous marriages. Instead, the husband and wife who are party to the earliest marriage that still subsists can make a joint claim for universal credit in the same way as any other couple. Any other adults living in the household would each have to claim as a single person on the basis of their own circumstances. This process already happens where a polygamous marriage is not recognised in UK law.

Social Security Benefits: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answers of 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 758W, on jobseeker's allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber and 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 756W, on employment and support allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber, how many people living in the City of York were receiving (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) employment and support allowance support group and (c) employment and support allowance work-related group in (i) October 2012 and (ii) each month since then.

Esther McVey: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 9 January 2014, Official Report, column 283W.

Universal Credit

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has paid to private sector companies to develop the universal credit system; and what his projection is for IT spending on the project in each of the next five years.

Esther McVey: The information is as follows:
	(a) The amounts that have been paid to each IT service provider are contained within the NAO report, Universal Credit: Early progress, HC 621, published on 5 September 2013.
	(b) The total cost of the consultants employed on the universal credit programme in each of the last three years is as follows: £5.6 million in 2011-12 and £3.2 million in 2012-13.
	There was no consultancy expenditure in 2010-11 recorded against the universal
	credit programme.
	(c) Costs for any future development remain subject to ongoing commercial discussions.

Universal Credit: Redditch

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects benefit claimants in Redditch constituency to move onto universal credit.

Esther McVey: The Secretary of State set out the plans for the next stage of delivery of universal credit on 5 December 2013.
	Our current planning assumption is that the universal credit service will be fully available in each part of Great Britain during 2016, with the majority of the legacy benefit claimant caseload moving to universal credit during 2016 and 2017.

Work Capability Assessment: Devon

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of average waiting times for ATOS work capability assessments in Plymouth and Devon; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will impose a maximum waiting period of eight weeks on Atos work capability assessments in Plymouth and Devon.

Michael Penning: Average waiting times data for work capability assessments is not available for the geographical area stated. The national average waiting time (days) for both employment and support allowance and incapacity benefit reassessments in the regional group of Bristol (which includes Plymouth and Devon) is 78.1 days.
	Following the overhaul of Atos Healthcare's audit arrangements, their work force have undergone a process of retraining and re-accreditation. The increased focus on quality has had an impact on waiting times for work capability assessments across the country.
	There is no intention to make a variation to those standards, including imposing a maximum waiting period of eight weeks for Plymouth and Devon.
	DWP continually monitors the effectiveness of Atos Healthcare's performance in line with the contractual standards contained within the Medical Services Agreement. There is no intention to make a variation to those standards.

East Coast Railway Line

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department has taken to establish current levels of satisfaction with East Coast Mainline services.

Stephen Hammond: Passenger Focus consults more than 50,000 passengers a year to produce the National Passenger Survey (NPS) which provide a network-wide picture of passengers' satisfaction with rail travel.
	Passenger opinions of train services are collected twice a year from a representative sample of journeys.
	Passengers' overall satisfaction and satisfaction with 30 specific aspects of service can, therefore, be compared over time.
	The results are published by Passenger Focus for each operator so direct comparison(s) can be made.

East Coast Railway Line

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department has taken to seek public and passenger views on the Government's plans to privatise east coast main line services.

Stephen Hammond: The Department for Transport has conducted a full consultation on the provision of passenger services on the Intercity East Coast and published a Consultation Summary Report for it when we published the OJEU notice and Prospectus on 25 October 2013.
	The Department has not consulted on the decision to conduct a competition to re-let the operation of passenger services to a private sector operator.

East Coast Railway Line

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of current performance levels on east coast main line services.

Stephen Hammond: The agreement between the Government and each individual train operator includes benchmarks in key areas. The Department monitors each train operator's overall performance against these areas every four weeks and there are clear actions set out in the agreement should performance drop below what is contracted. This regular monitoring includes monthly meetings with their senior management where performance figures are scrutinised and challenged. Where any non-compliance is discovered Department officials will follow the steps set out in the enforcement policy, which is available online at:
	http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/enforcement-policy-rail-franchise-agreements-and-closures/enforcementpolicy.pdf

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2013, Official Report, column 123W, on High Speed 2, which individuals engaged by HS2 Ltd are still engaged via personal service companies.

Robert Goodwill: Pursuant to the answer provided on 22 October 2013, Official Report, column 123W, HS2 Ltd engage 36 people through Personal Service Companies.

Procurement

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and of what value of contracts procured by his Department in the last five years was carried out below EU thresholds.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not hold the information by financial year for the entire DFT group. Where this information is not held by financial year, we have shown the total figures for the full five year period. The following table shows a breakdown of these figures, but excludes DSA (Driving Standards Agency) and VCA (Vehicle Certification Agency) as they do not record this data.
	
		
			 Category Financial year Value of contracts procured (£) Number of contracts let per financial year below EU thresholds 
			 DFT 2008-09 3,983,993.00 25 
			  2009-10 3,977,819.00 62 
			  2010-11 1,394,124.00 29 
			  2011-12 2,695,208.00 45 
			  2012-13 3,608,838.00 91 
			 Total Combined years 15,659,982.00 252 
			     
			 DVLA 2008-09 316,600.00 7 
			  2009-10 1,430,454.00 29 
			  2010-11 663,867.00 23 
			  2011-12 508,602.00 17 
			  2012-13 782,239.00 35 
			 Total Combined years 3,701,762.00 111 
			     
			 HA Combined years 93,812,961.00 339 
			     
			 MCA Combined years 40,447,755.87 1,764 
			     
			 VOSA Combined years 11,225,826.25 435 
			     
			 Total — 164,848,287.12 3,252

Railway Signals

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department made ahead of the rollout of European Rail Track Management System (ERTMS) signaling across the rail network; what assessment he has made of the cost of introducing ERTMS signalling; and what assessment he has made of the timescale for the rollout of ERTMS signalling.

Stephen Hammond: Network Rail is leading the industry deployment of ERTMS, and is being funded during the next Control Period (2014-19) to deliver a coordinated program of work. They have based the rollout of ERTMS on a positive business case, based upon the infrastructure cost efficiencies that ERTMS delivers.
	The Department supports the industry led program of work and recognises the benefits that ERTMS brings.

Railway Stations: Disability

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department has allocated to programmes to make stations more accessible for people with disabilities; and if he will publish details of each such spending commitment.

Stephen Hammond: The Access for All Main, Mid-Tier and Small Schemes programmes support access improvements at stations.
	Since 2006 £388 million has been authorised for the Access for All Main programme to deliver an accessible route at more than 150 stations by 2015. Another £100 million has been allocated to extend this until 2019.
	£37.5 million of Mid-Tier funding was allocated in 2011 to support a variety of access improvements under 42 projects covering around 160 stations. £7 million a year of Small Schemes funding is allocated to the train operating companies and since 2006 more than 1,100 stations have benefitted from this.
	Access for All funding is in addition to access improvements delivered under other major projects or funded by the train operators. Details of Main and Mid-Tier projects are published online by Network Rail and the Small Schemes by the train operators.

Railways: Franchises

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what public consultations on rail franchising agreements have been held in the last 10 years.

Stephen Hammond: In the last 10 years the practice of the relevant franchising authority has been to consult upon franchises that have been competitively let. In this Government the Department has undertaken public consultations on those franchises it has sought to re-let, as follows:
	An initial consultation was undertaken on the West Coast franchise between January and April 2011, see
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/intercity-west-coast-franchise
	and a subsequent consultation based on the draft ITT took place between May and August 2011
	http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/intercity-west-coast-franchise/draft-invitation-to-tender-tender-invitation-document.pdf
	and
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/intercity-west-coast-draft-invitation-to-tender-itt-consultation
	The Department issued OJEU notices and PQQ papers in respect of three competitions in December 2011 and then undertook public consultations before issuing the ITT in each case.
	For Essex Thameside the consultation took place between February and May 2012, and the ITT was issued on 2 July 2012. The consultation can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/essex-thameside-franchise-consultation
	For Great Western the consultation took place between December 2011 and March 2012 and the ITT was issued on 27 July 2012. The consultation is at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/great-western-franchise-replacement-consultation
	For TSGN (which involved some franchise remapping to include certain south eastern services) consultations took place between May and September 2012 (existing TSGN services) and June to September 2012 (South Eastern services). The consultations are at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-combined-thameslink-southern-and-great-northern-franchise
	(this also includes the Government response published on 26 September 2013) and
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/south-eastern-franchise-consultation
	Separately, for Intercity East Coast the consultation took place between June and September 2012. A Consultation Summary Report was published on 25 October last year when the OJEU notice was published. This summary will be updated and published as a Stakeholder Briefing Document when the ITT is published in February. The consultation can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/intercity-east-coast-franchise-consultation

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2013, Official Report, column 633W, on unmanned air vehicles, whether material is collated by the Cross-Government Working Group on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems on use of such systems by state bodies or any state bodies in UK airspace.

Robert Goodwill: No material has been collated to date, but two Government Departments have given presentations to the Government Working Group on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems on how they have made use of small remotely piloted aircraft systems to assist them with collecting data to support policy in their respective areas.

Children in Care: Employment

Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the outcomes are of the Care2Work programme to date; how the outcomes are measured; how many people that programme has supported; and how many such people are in work since receiving help.

Edward Timpson: The Government funds the voluntary sector organisation Catch22 to run the FromCare2Work programme. The programme improves the employability opportunities for care leavers by providing advice, guidance and training to local authorities on how to support care leavers access work opportunities and working directly with national employers. Since 2009 the programme has worked with 150 local authorities and engaged with 119 employers.
	Over this period 14,000 young people have benefited from opportunities created as a result of FromCare2Work support to local authorities. Monitoring reports from local authorities and information collected directly by the programme indicate that 2,500 young people have gained employment as a result of this programme.
	Catch22 collect data on activities by local authorities, outcomes of employability opportunities created and feedback from young people and staff engaged on the programme. These are published in annual reports; further information and impact assessments of the programme can be found online1.
	1 http://resources.leavingcare.org/uploads/607cec4aaf32ce77bd2d 7fed7b66ae5d.pdf
	http://resources.leavingcare.org/uploads/048c472b88c9a3f6c906a 46fb8b0e9ff.pdf
	http://resources.leavingcare.org/uploads/56c5508880e967150cd 45f95376583d4.pdf
	http://www.catch-22.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Impact-report-2012-2013.pdf

Kings Science Academy

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent progress has been made by Kings Science Academy in the implementation of its improvement plan.

Edward Timpson: The improvement plan was agreed with Kings Science Academy in April 2013. A detailed follow up review in July 2013 demonstrated that significant progress had been made. Progress continues to be made; the remaining outstanding issues are expected to be completed by the end of January 2014.

Kings Science Academy

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether the valuation of the site of the Kings Science Academy, Bradford included the value of the buildings on the site.

Michael Gove: The Department for Education commissioned an independent valuation of the site on behalf of Kings Science Academy. This included an assessment of the market rent of the leasehold interest of the site, the state of repair and condition of the property. It also gave the rent paid by the then tenants on the site.

Kings Science Academy

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the provision has been to recover the capital investment made by his Department and the Education Funding Agency in the new premises at Kings Science Academy, Bradford at the end of the lease period.

Edward Timpson: The site of Kings Science Academy is secured on a 20 year lease due to expire in 2032. The Department's capital investment in that site is protected for the duration of the lease through provisions in the Secretary of State for Education's funding agreement with Kings Science Academy. These prevent the disposal of assets without the Secretary of State for Education's approval and allow the Secretary of State for Education to take ownership of the site in the event that the funding agreement is terminated: Under the terms of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, Kings Science Academy has a statutory right to renew the lease at the end of the 20 year term. This ensures that the capital investment in the site can continue to benefit the local community for the lifespan of the building.

Pupils: Bullying

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the change in levels of racist bullying in schools was between 2012 and 2013.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government has made tackling all forms of bullying, including racist bullying, a top priority. All schools must have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils. Schools have the freedom to tailor their anti-bullying policies to address local issues, such as racism, which may vary geographically. Under the current Ofsted framework school inspectors consider how well schools prevent bullying, harassment and discrimination. Inspectors consider how well teachers manage the behaviour of pupils to ensure that all pupils have an equal and fair chance to thrive and learn in an atmosphere of respect and dignity.
	In the Education Act 2011 we strengthened teachers' powers to discipline pupils for poor behaviour, including bullying. They can now issue same day detentions, confiscate banned items and search for, and if necessary delete, inappropriate images on mobile phones.
	We are also providing £4 million of funding over two years from spring 2013 to four organisations: Beatbullying, The Diana Award, Kidscape and the NCB to develop effective initiatives to prevent and tackle all forms of bullying, including racist bullying. These organisations have in place separate evaluations, which will report on the effectiveness of their initiatives.

Armed Forces: Hearing Impairment

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel have had their hearing classified as H3 or below as a result of their PULHEEMS assessment at the age of (a) 30, (b) 35, (c) 40, (d) 45 and (e) 50 since January 2009.

Anna Soubry: Since 1 January 2009 the following numbers of UK Service personnel have had a hearing grade H3 'impaired hearing' or H4 'poor hearing' recorded on their primary health care patient record:
	
		
			 Age of personnel Number of Personnel with hearing grade H3 or H4 
			 30 656 
			 35 501 
			 40 738 
			 45 438 
			 50 399 
		
	
	It should be noted that this is a snapshot of information recorded on the primary care record at that specific age. If personnel had a H3 or H4 recorded at a different age, they have not been included in the numbers provided.
	It should also be noted that in-service Joint Medical Employment Standard assessments are no longer routinely carried out when personnel reach certain ages.

Armed Forces: Hearing Impairment

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many individuals with measured hearing loss on discharge at 35-50dB averaged over 1, 2 and 3 kHz frequencies have made application for hearing loss awards under (a) the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, (b) the War Pension Scheme and (c) both schemes since April 2002.

Anna Soubry: Between 6 April 2005 and 30 September 2013 (the earliest and latest dates for which Armed Forces Compensation data is available) 295 claims have been made for deafness/hearing loss under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.
	The number of these individuals who have made claims for hearing loss under the War Pensions Scheme is not available and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Hearing Impairment

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications have been received by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency for Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or War Pension awards for hearing loss since April 2002.

Anna Soubry: Between 6 April 2005 and 30 September 2013 (the earliest and latest date for which Armed Forces Compensation Scheme data is available) a minimum of 2,460 claims have been made for deafness and hearing loss.
	It has not been possible to provide War Pension Scheme data for financial year 2002-03, as this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2013 (the latest date for which War Pension Scheme (WPS) data is available) a minimum of 2,285 first claims have been made for deafness and hearing loss.

Armed Forces: Hearing Impairment

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have been awarded a zero per cent War Pension for hearing loss since April 2002.

Anna Soubry: It has not been possible to provide the figures for financial year 2002-03, as this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2013 (the latest date for which War Pension Scheme data is available) a minimum of 1,315 people have been awarded a 0% War Pension for deafness or hearing loss.
	0% awards are recorded where the medical condition is accepted as being due to service, but has not led to any degree of disablement.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2013, Official Report, columns 707-08W, on RAF Waddington, whether UK Reapers and the systems which control and support UK Reapers are interoperable with the capabilities and systems of any NATO allies.

Mark Francois: UK Reaper is interoperable with equivalent Reaper systems and other capabilities used by NATO allies.

Gambling: Advertising

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will discuss with Ofcom the finding of its report Trends in Advertising Activity Gambling, published in November 2013; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meets with Ofcom to discuss a range of matters, including a meeting in October 2013 with regulators-including Ofcom-specifically to obtain information about gambling advertising on television.
	The Government keeps the potential impact of the increase in gambling advertising on the licensing objectives defined in the Gambling Act 2005 under review and used this opportunity to discuss with the regulators concerned the effectiveness of the various codes, regulations and current initiatives supporting these licensing objectives.

Community Orders: Greater London

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what provision is made in the contract between his Department and Serco to provide community pay back in London for a health and safety policy; and what steps he has taken to ensure that that provision is satisfactory.

Jeremy Wright: The contract with Serco Group plc for delivery of Community Payback in London addresses Health and Safety in the following Schedules: Schedule A: Services—Special Conditions; Schedule C: Specification.
	I will place an extract from Schedules A and C in the Library.

Community Orders: Greater London

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many local offices have been closed as a result of the sub-contracting of community payback in London to Serco.

Jeremy Wright: Serco's delivery model includes the provision of a dedicated control centre to oversee operations on a day-to-day basis: this has allowed for the closure of four local offices and a storage unit. The new delivery model has also enabled London Probation Trust to carry out an estate rationalisation, with the closure of an additional three buildings.
	We estimate there will be savings of 37% over the lifetime of the four-year contract, releasing cashable savings of £25 million in that period.

Oakwood Prison

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff at HM Prison Oakwood have less than one year's service in the Prison Service.

Jeremy Wright: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to a previous question—16 December 2013,Official Report, column 500W.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many prison officers taking voluntary early departure since May 2010 have been subsequently re-employed the National Offender Management Service (NOMS); how much severance pay those officers received in total; and how much severance pay was repaid to NOMS;
	(2)  what proportion of the severance pay received by prison officers for taking voluntary early departure has been paid back to his Department by those subsequently rehired by the Department.

Jeremy Wright: None of the prison officers who took voluntary early departure between May 2010 and September 2013 have been reemployed by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) up until 1 October 2013. There has therefore been no repayment of severance pay made by these staff.

Probation

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to have completed the handover of all offender supervision cases to (a) the National Probation Service and (b) community rehabilitation companies.

Jeremy Wright: Responsibility for the probation caseload transfers to the National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) on 1 April 2014. This will be done in a way which will not compromise public protection and risk management.
	During this first stage of the transition we are seeking to maintain as much continuity as possible. It is therefore anticipated that, in the majority of cases, the case will transfer into the new structure with the current case manager. Those cases that do need to be transferred to a different case manager will be transferred in a structured way which maintains continuity of supervision and ensures public protection is maintained. There is no requirement to complete case reallocation by 1 April where it is felt that, to do so, may compromise public protection and risk management.

Probation: Private Sector

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many companies or other organisations have expressed interest in becoming or forming community rehabilitation companies in each of the designated 21 areas specified by him.

Jeremy Wright: Following the announcement on 19 September that we would be running a competition to find the owners of the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) which will provide rehabilitation services to offenders, 35 companies expressed an interest in bidding, representing 50 organisations. On 19 December we announced that 30 bidders have passed the first stage of the competition, the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, and will be invited to bid for regional rehabilitation contracts. All of the bidders have experience working with offenders or across the wider criminal justice system.
	The bids are from a diverse mix of partnerships representing a range of organisations including many from the voluntary sector. Mutuals formed by probation staff are also among those who will have the opportunity to bid to play a major role in the reforms, with around a third of shortlisted bidders including these groups. Bidders will need to select the contract package areas for which they want to bid during the next stage of the competition.
	The full list of bidders and their partner groups can be found on the Government website at:
	www.gov.uk/government/news/best-in-the-business-bidding-to-rehabilitate-offenders

Serco

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  whether Serco has incurred any financial penalties due to performance targets being missed under the contract for the delivery of community payback in London to date;
	(2)  whether the contract with Serco for the delivery of community payback in London includes any option to extend the contract;
	(3)  how the savings claimed to be made under the contract with Serco for the delivery of community payback in London have been calculated;
	(4)  on which occasions service delivery failures have occurred since the beginning of the contract with Serco for the delivery of community payback in London;
	(5)  how many complaints to date have been received from (a) those undertaking community payback and (b) the London Probation Trust about the quality of the service being delivered by Serco under the contract for the delivery of community payback in London.

Jeremy Wright: The contract sets out in precise detail how the Community Payback service is to be delivered in London. Any service delivery issues are discussed at regular meetings between Serco and London Probation Trust.
	Serco has not incurred any financial penalties to date on account of performance targets having been missed. Serco is meeting key targets and is out-performing the national average on a number of key measures.
	The Ministry of Justice has not received any complaints about delivery of Community Payback in London by Serco. Data provided by Serco on complaints to the company itself indicate that during the period 31 October 2012 to 31 October 2013 the company received 69 complaints from offenders relating to Community Payback in London. No complaints have been received from London Probation Trust: any issues are addressed at the regular meetings between Serco and the Trust, as explained above.

Dental Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) adults and (b) children with tooth decay in each year since 2010.

Daniel Poulter: This information is not available in the format requested. Data relating to tooth decay in children and adults are not collected annually in England. No information is available on tooth decay for adults for 2010 or later.
	The most recent available information in relation to tooth decay in adults is taken from the Adult Dental Health Survey, which is a decennial survey, the most recent of which relates to 2009:
	(a) In 2009, 30% of adults (aged 16 or over) had obvious tooth decay in either the crowns or roots of their teeth in England.
	Data from the National Dental Epidemiology Programme for England shows that:
	(b) In 2009, in England, 17.5% of 12-year-old children had untreated tooth decay.

Depressive Illnesses

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2014, Official Report, column 410W, on depressive illnesses, what the 37 studies into depression, to which his Department's National Institute for Health Research is currently recruiting patients, are.

Daniel Poulter: Details of these studies are available on the UK Clinical Research Network Portfolio Database at:
	http://england.ukcrn.org.uk/Portfolio.aspx?Level1=5&Level2 =34486tatus=34

Nutrition

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government has to update the recommended guideline daily amounts of (a) sugar, (b) fat, (c) salt and (d) calorie intake.

Jane Ellison: Guideline daily amounts were introduced by the food industry. The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) reviewed the dietary reference values for energy intakes in 2011 but the Government decided not to revise energy intake recommendations for adults given the uncertainties in the evidence and the high prevalence of obesity and overweight in the United Kingdom.
	The SACN is currently undertaking a review of the evidence on carbohydrates, including sugars and sources of sugar, and health. This includes assessing the literature on obesity, type 2 diabetes and tooth decay. The draft report is expected to go out to public consultation in 2014. Once the responses have been considered, SACN will finalise its report and provide recommendations to the Government. On this basis, dietary advice and any recommendations on specific foods will be updated accordingly.
	There are no current plans to review other dietary reference values.

Minimum Wage

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of recent trends in non-compliance with the national minimum wage.

Jennifer Willott: Currently, our best estimate of non-compliance is from the Annual Survey of Household Earnings (ASHE). However, findings from the survey do not take into account the fact that some workers are not entitled to receive the national minimum wage for example, students undertaking work experience as part of their UK higher or further education course. The ASHE figures may therefore overestimate the level of non-compliance with national minimum wage (NMW) law.
	The Office for National Statistics low pay release in December 2013 suggests that in April 2013, non-compliance was not a growing problem. The trend is fairly stable for adults with a slight increase in non-compliance for younger workers over the last three years. The following table outlines the number and percentage of jobs below the NMW over the last three years.
	
		
			 Number and percentage of jobs paid below the national minimum wage in the UK 2011-13 
			  Age 16-17 Age 18-20 Age 21 and over All jobs 
			  Thousand Percentage Thousand Percentage Thousand Percentage Thousand Percentage 
			 April 20111 15 5.7 49 4.4 207 0.8 272 1.1 
			 April 20122 18 6.6 56 5.1 207 0.8 280 1.1 
			 April 20133 19 7.3 57 5.5 203 0.8 279 1.1 
			 1 Rate is £3.64 per hour (aged 16-17 or £4.92 per hour (aged 18-20) or £5.93 per hour (aged 21 and over). 2 Rate is £3.68 per hour (aged 16-17) or £4,98 per hour (aged 18-20) or £6.08 per hour (aged 21 and over). 3 Rate is £3.68 per hour (aged 16-17) or £4.98 per hour (aged 18-20) or £6.19 per hour (aged 21 and over). Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics

Procurement

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of his Department's contracts have been let to companies with (a) one to five, (b) six to 49, (c) 50 to 250 and (d) more than 250 staff.

Jennifer Willott: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills does not hold this information centrally and the answer cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. For information, the Department is responsible for developing business opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with up to 250 employees. We strongly encourage SMEs to bid for departmental contracts they believe they could fill.

Public Transport: Industrial Disputes

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will bring forward legislative proposals to reform existing trades union legislation to prevent public transport unions undertaking excessive numbers of strikes and to provide independent binding arbitration of future disputes on the London Transport Network and other areas.

Jennifer Willott: The Government believes that disputes are best handled through negotiation between the parties. Strikes and other forms of industrial action should be regarded as a last resort after attempts to resolve differences through dialogue have been exhausted. Nevertheless, the freedom for individuals to take industrial action is an essential feature of any democratic society. Where disputes cannot be resolved by negotiation, then workers must have other means to defend their interests.
	In relation to binding arbitration, the independent Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) stands ready to assist all parties in reaching an agreement. Drawing on its long experience, ACAS understands that all parties must fully accept its involvement for arbitration to work. The Government do not however support the idea that the parties should be compelled to accept the involvement of an independent arbitrator or conciliator. That would undermine ACAS's effectiveness.
	The Government monitors the application of the law in this important area, and will bear these suggestions in mind should it prove necessary in future to reassess the legal framework.

Radioactive Waste

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he took to ensure involvement by independent non-institutional experts in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council programme supporting radioactive waste research announced on 8 January 2014.

David Willetts: The DISTINCTIVE project recently funded with a £4.9 million grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) was commissioned to maintain underpinning research capability and help address key challenges in the area of decommissioning and pre-treatment of nuclear waste prior to disposal or re-use.
	A workshop was held to scope the research. Participants included representatives from academic research groups in the UK working in this area and from the main industry players. The university participants were from Leeds, Sheffield, UCL, Imperial, Manchester, Loughborough, the University of Central Lancashire, Strathclyde, Lancaster and Birmingham. The Government and industry participants were from EPSRC, Sellafield Ltd, the National Nuclear Laboratory, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the Electronics Knowledge Transfer Network and the Office for Nuclear Regulation.
	The proposal was assessed by an independent panel—half of whom were retired nuclear engineers with no current affiliation to organisations in the nuclear sector. The other panel members were nuclear industry experts but from companies that were not involved in the scoping of the project; nor will they be involved in the subsequent operation of the programme.

Palestinians

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2014, Official Report, column 11W, on Palestinians, for what reasons the reports she received concluded that emergency response systems were working adequately.

Alan Duncan: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed to DFID in December that national and international partners have responded to the emergency needs in a timely and coordinated fashion. OCHA appealed for donors to work through existing funding mechanisms and to ensure that Gaza is prepared for such events in the future.